Alastair Cook should quit captaincy; take urgent advice to get his batting right: Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen, the former England batsman, has suggested that the struggling captain Alastair Cook should resign and then seek help for his batting. Pietersen expressed that he want even his worst enemy to go through what Cook is enduring at the current moment. But, Pietersen has words of advice and feels Cook can bounce back and play for a long time in international cricket.

Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Pietersen expressed, “But he should do what is right for England and resign the captaincy. He has shown he does not have the tactical brain to lead the side. England badly miss Cook the opening batsman scoring 150 to set games up at the top of the order and, relieved of the captaincy, I don’t think it is too late for him to rediscover this form.”

In 2013, Pietersen had said that Cook could go on to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record. Though the England captain has gone through the slump, he hopes Cook lives up to that. “I said last year I thought he could compete with Sachin Tendulkar in terms of career runs. Perhaps this was an unfair comparison but I did and still do hope Cooky can live up to it. He could have another 10 years left but his batting requires emergency help and he needs to speak to someone away from the England set-up. He has to be honest with himself,” Pietersen wrote.

Pietersen suggested to Cook that he could perhaps consult someone like a Graham Ford, who had helped the former when he was struggling. Pietersen wrote that the teams have picked up Cook’s weakness off the front foot and are not bowling short to him as they have identified his strengths in cutting and pulling. He also suggested Ian Bell as a captaincy candidate in case Cook is to be replaced.